Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Feb. 18) -- Freshman Stacy Albrecht (Federal Way/Thomas Jefferson HS) had her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Sara Bergner (Bellingham) had a team-high 15 points in Central Washington University's 79-58 women's basketball loss to regionally-ranked Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats, who wore pink uniforms in honor of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Pink Zone initiative to support breast cancer research, dropped their fifth straight contest to fall to 6-16 overall and 3-9 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Northwest Nazarene, ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II West Region, improved to 16-6 overall and 6-5 in the GNAC.

Despite trailing essentially from start to finish, Central nearly matched the high-powered Crusaders offensively by shooting 42.0 percent for the game while NNU hit on 42.4 percent from the floor. The Wildcats matched the Crusaders with eight three-pointers made and had two fewer attempts from behind the arc, but 26 Central turnovers -- including 17 in the first half -- proved too costly for the hosts.

Northwest Nazarene began the game on a 19-5 run in the first 10 1/2 minutes, and the Crusaders held a 17-point lead with 5:56 to go in the period at 26-9. The two teams played even the rest of the first half, scoring 13 points apiece before halftime, and the Wildcats were down 39-22 at the intermission.

Although the Wildcats never got to within any closer than a 14-point deficit in the second half, and saw Northwest Nazarene put together a 13-2 run over a five-minute span midway through the final stanza, Central Washington outshot the Crusaders by percentage from the field in the second half (48.0 percent to 45.5 percent).

Although Albrecht was not the team's top scorer on Thursday, she was a consistent presence in the paint for the Wildcats with four points and seven rebounds in the first half before a six-point, three-rebound second half. She finished the game making 5 of 8 from the floor and shared game-high rebounding honors with 10 caroms.

Bergner had nine of her 15 points for the game in the second half, but made just 3 of 9 from the field after halftime. She did finish a perfect 3 for 3 from three-point range in the game and tied for team-leading honors in the assist department with three assists without a turnover. Sophomore Sophie Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS) also reached double figures with 10 points.

Northwest Nazarene, the number two scoring team in the GNAC, had a balanced attack with four double-figure scorers and two others with nine points. The Crusaders' leading scorers were Lindsay Brady and Brittney Roggenkamp with 12 points each, while Kristin Hein joined Central's Albrecht with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Central Washington will have its final "open date" of the GNAC schedule this Saturday, and will return to action at rival Western Washington next Thursday (Feb. 25) at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will also play at Seattle Pacific next week (Saturday, Feb. 27) before closing out their 2009-10 schedule at home Mar. 4 and 6.